Actress Tamannaah Bhatia summoned in illegal IPL streaming case

CNN Central News & Network-ITDC India Epress / ITDC News Bhopal: Actress Tamannaah Bhatia has been summoned by Maharashtra Cyber Wing for questioning in connection with the illegal streaming of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 matches on FairPlay application, a sister app of Mahadev betting app, in violation of the broadcast rights of the Viacom 18 group, reported news agency ANI.

The ‘Baahubali’ famed actress, who has been summoned for allegedly promoting the viewing of the IPL matches on the Fairplay betting app, has been asked to appear before the Cyber Cell for questioning and record her statement as a witness on April 29.

It is also reported that Sanjay Dutt’s name also emerged in connection with the case. He was asked to appear for questioning earlier this week. However, due to his schedule, he couldn’t appear due to his schedule and asked for a new date.

According to the news agency, the illegal streaming caused Viacom a loss of crores of rupees.

Earlier, Bollywood singer and rapper Badshah and the managers of actors Sanjay Dutt and Jacqueline Fernandez were also quizzed by the Maharashtra cyber police for allegedly promoting the betting app and urging viewers to tune in on the application to watch the cricket matches.

What’s the case?

The case is based on the FIR lodged by Viacom 18 group in 2023 where it was alleged that some of the IPL 2023 matches were illegally streamed on Fairplay, and many actors endorsed and promoted the betting application.

Viacom18 owns several television channels and the OTT platform, VOOT. In October 2021, its anti-piracy team learnt that there were seven apps—Pikashow, Foxi, Vedu, Smart Player Lite, Film Plus, Tea TV and Wow TV—that were illegally showing serials, reality shows and other content being aired on Viacom 18 platform.

Also Read: Mahadev app promoter Sourabh Chandrakar detained in Dubai: Report

The case was registered against these apps, claiming that without acquiring legal rights, they were showing Viacom 18 content for monetary benefit and causing a loss to the company of over ₹100 crore.